Secrets
by bAnGmYhEaRt
Summary: We're conducting research, says Robin when pressed about his mysterious, long outings with Starfire. Beast Boy, fed up with such a vague answer, decides to take matters into his own hands. But it turns out his friends have a secret: one that is deadly.
1. Chapter 1

_Oy. All of the chapters for this fic are super short. My apologies. At least it's written out already, right? I won't bore you with a long authors note...Just thought I'd tell you not to chew my ears off if you see "mispelings". Thanks in advance.Please feel free to critique; I'd like to get better. This is an older one though. ...Even so. Alright, without further preambling, here ismy first fic ever written - possibly my only complete one. Pfft. Whatever. Enjoy if you can. I'll try to update weekly. - bAnGmYhEaRt_

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**Chapter One**

_Name: Garfield Logan_

_Age: 16_

_First Contact: 04.22.06_

_Acceptance: Yes_

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"Tell me why I shouldn't smash your face." Mammouth could hardly get the words out. His teeth were clenched like a mousetrap that had snapped just short of its prey. Beast Boy felt like the mouse. He knew he should call for help. Rob and Star were just inside the warehouse.

"I think we could be friends if you just-" His back made contact with the brick wall. He looked to his right, toward the massive arm that blocked escape.

Mammouth swung. Odd how someone so huge could move so quickly. Beast Boy could move faster though. Assuming a rat morph, he ran, only just avoiding stomping feet. After putting a safe enough distance between himself and Mammouth – and the warehouse – he melted into something a lot faster. A cheetah at full run should be able to escape this danger. At least until Beast Boy got somewhere that Starfire and Robin wouldn't hear him kicking bad guy butt.

He ran down a hill toward a brownish waterway that bordered town. The river had a name but not even people that lived on this side of the city remembered it. Pollution from the factory had ruined the water here ages ago. Nowadays, the factories and warehouses stood empty and abandoned, but the look and stench of the river remained. Just before the river was a chain-link fence. He clawed his way over it, heading toward another empty building.

The sun made black holes of alleyways that snaked between the old brick buildings. Beast Boy glanced once behind him but his sharp cheetah sight spotted no one. He shifted back to his body, trying to ignore the wary eyes that glared at him as he passed makeshift shelters of old planks and cardboard boxes piled against the walls at the edges of the streetlight.

Where was it?

There was a door here that would take him on a round-about underground path back to Star and Rob's building. He had come here to spy on them, after all. For weeks now, the two had been sneaking out of the tower. The only explanation they would give if questioned was: "We're researching." At least, that's what Robin would say. Starfire would start to giggle after that. If they were doing actual research, Beast Boy would eat his socks. He wished he had remembered to bring a camera. He needed blackmail.

He had scoped out passageways already but he hadn't been to this particular building for a few days. It was this building that made him nervous. There was no explanation for it. The brick walls everywhere else were just as crumbly, the windows just as dark, stairwells and hobo's hiding places just as nerve-wracking. Still, this one was worst. The Turning-AmarJit Building, it was labeled with a faded old sign.

As he rounded a corner he spotted the familiar rotting truck dock. The grimy, graffiti covered tan-brick wall. The door was locked. He raced around to the east side of the building. In the deepening darkness, he ducked into a basement stairwell.

Something rustled from below. A small shadow scampered over the stairs and into the night. Beast Boy jumped and stifled a scream. He head banged against a cement overhang. For a moment, everything went black. He only just kept himself from falling before staggering down the steps.

At the bottom, near a grime-caked basement window, he crouched and waited until his head stopped spinning.

"TITAN I'M GOING TO GET YOU."

Mammouth. Near. Maybe 30 yards.

"Was that you, Beast?" Beast Boy could hear a rat squeal. Just stay put, he told himself. A moment later, footsteps retreated into silence. Now the only sounds were rustling leaves and Beast Boy's dry, raspy breaths. Safe and also still hidden from his teammates. For now at least.

He felt the top of his head. It ached badly. He would get a bad bruise later, most likely. He stood, bracing himself against the sides of the stairwell.

The bump was worse than he thought.

His head felt strange. As if it were expanding, as if he had to hold on to it, just to keep it intact. Recently, he'd been having headaches like this one. Bad ones but not usually this bad. He _would _catch Robin and Starfire. He climbed the stairs again, determined to reach the door this time. A sudden throb pushed against the inside of his skull. His knees buckled. He clutched the rusted banister.

This was a bad one. A migraine maybe. He must have really smacked that overhang hard. Grimacing, he took another step.

The darkness gave way to a volcano of white, green, and red. As if the world had ignited. He didn't think he'd make it back to the tower. Not by himself. Not even to the top of the stairs. He started to reach for his communicator.

"Help me…"

Beast Boy froze. For a moment the pain retracted. The voice had come from below him, from the basement window.


	2. Chapter 2

_yay, so i couldn't wait to put up another chapter. i might not be able to get on for two weeks though. school's crap. oh well. thanks for the reviews samuraigurl213 and splint. it really meant a lot to know that someone's actually reading this. XD But, ZOMG,these chapters aresooo short. it annoys me. if i wasn't so lazy, i'd go back and add more detail. sorry.  
- tired, as always, but forever yours, bAnGmYhEaRt_

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**Chapter Two**

_…I'm fading… _

_You always knew this would happen again. Are you prepared?_

_…For what…?_

_For return._

_- - - - - _

"Hello?" Beast Boy's voice was barely audible. His heart was pounding. And his headache was gone. "Must be my imagination. My own thoughts!" He laughed nervously. He bolted up the stairs. Maybe he could still find Robin and Starfire. He had to stop at the top though to hold his head. "Please be inside," he said to Star and Robin through the door. He pushed it open, roughly, loudly. It had been propped ajar with a wooden wedge. No one had bothered to even close it. He stumbled down a steep hill toward the rear of the building where a floodlight marked yet another door.

He yanked it open and slipped inside. He squinted against the sickly green-white glare of overhead fluorescents. Why were the lights on anyway? Wasn't this plant closed? His brain couldn't worry this problem out, not when he was too busy concentrating on walking. He was in the basement corridor, the passageway to Robin and Starfire's building. He could and would make it to them. Maybe even catch them kissing each other. That would be a riot. Polished wooden floors and taupe-painted walls contrasted sharply with the building's depressed exterior.

"Helllllp…"

He froze again. The voice. It was real. And loud. His eyes shot to its source. A door on the left, in the middle of the corridor. He began to walk toward it. He stopped when he heard footsteps. Two people in the far corridor and coming nearer. Instinctively he backed away. A hulking object, covered with a canvas tarp, was propped against the wall by the stairs. If he could catch Starfire and Robin together in an abandoned building it would be enough to shame them into pulling a few pranks on Raven and Cyborg for him. He hid behind the object.

Their footsteps drew nearer. Rushed. Agitated.

"I heard him all the way across the factory," Starfire said.

"I'm sorry," Robin replied.

Beast Boy was glad they had heard the poor guy that had locked himself into that room. He stood up slightly. Robin was fumbling for something at his belt and Starfire was clutching his other arm.

"This isn't supposed to happen, friend Robin," Starfire said gently. "He's too sensitive."

"My mistake," Robin answered as he inserted a card into a key slot. "I'll take care of it."

They pushed open the door and disappeared inside. Beast Boy slowly emerged from his hiding place and walked closer.

_"He's too sensitive"?_

Robin's voice came from inside the room, muffled and soft: "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," answered the voice that Beast Boy had heard crying for help. It sounded young, like someone his own age. He leaned forward; they were hard to hear.

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"Someone…tried to get in…the window," the person answered.

"No one's at the window now," said Robin.

Starfire spoke next. "Last time it was rats.The fat animals with ugly tails."

Robin sighed. "I guess I should silence him, huh?"

Beast Boy would have screamed if that sentence did not chill him to the bone.

"I'll fix everything, Star. He won't make another sound until we need him."

Beast Boy fled back to his hiding place confused and afraid. He felt dizzy. It wasn't the headache. It was the sound of cold, hollow tapping. And the total silence that followed as his friends left the corridor.


End file.
